Livestock and Poultry Groups Urge Congress to Repeal RFS

June 27, 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following an announcement by Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) that they have introduced the bipartisan Renewable Fuels Standard Repeal Act, (S. 1195) the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), National Chicken Council (NCC) and the National Turkey Federation (NTF) urge Congress to repeal the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).

“Chicken producers are already competing with the weather,” said NCC President Mike Brown. “Why must we also compete with an inflexible federal mandate that voluntarily places another strain on our limited resources? I commend Sens. Barrasso, Pryor and Toomey for taking an approach that would let the free market decide whether corn should go to food or to fuel.”

The RFS last year required 13.2 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol to be blended into gasoline; it mandates that 13.9 billion gallons be blended in 2013, an amount that will use about 4.9 billion bushels of corn, or about 40 percent of the nation’s crop.

“RFS has been such a poorly managed mess, it’s time to drain the swamp,” said NTF President Joel Brandenberger. “The RFS needs a fresh start in order to put in place a smarter policy on the mix of fuel and feed.”

Livestock and poultry groups called on the administration last fall to waive the RFS, for the second time since 2008. And for the second time, in spite of the widespread drought and lowered harvest, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refused to use the safety valve built into the biofuels mandate.

“Cattlemen and women are self-reliant, but in order to maintain that we cannot be asked to compete with federal mandates like the Renewable Fuels Standard for the limited supply of feed grains,” said NCBA Policy Vice Chair Craig Uden, an Elwood, Neb., cattle feeder. “When EPA is unable to provide even a temporary waiver of the RFS during the worst drought in 50 years, it is apparent the RFS is broken and we appreciate the efforts of Senators Barrasso, Pryor and Toomey to fix this flawed program.”

NCBA, NCC and NTF call on Congress to repeal the RFS to ensure market stability certainty for rural American economies.

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The National Chicken Council is the trade association, based in Washington, DC, for the companies that raise broiler chickens and make and market chicken products. Member companies of NCC provide about 95 percent of the chicken products on America’s table.